FAO celebrates International Women's Day with the release of Plan of Action
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The event was organized by FAO's Women and Population Division, which also marked the occasion by releasing "Gender: Key to Sustainability and Food Security", an illustrated version of the FAO Plan of Action for Women in Development (1996-2001).
"As the United Nations agency responsible for agriculture, forestry and fisheries worldwide, and with the mandate to promote sustainable agriculture and rural development as well as food security for all people, FAO will carry on and further its mission to ensure that women, in addition to men, have the support and access to resources they need to pursue sustainable livelihoods and an improved quality of life," says Director-General Diouf in the foreword to the new report. "Through the Plan of Action, the Organization will ensure that this pledge is carried forward to the next millennium, with all the resources and creativity it has at its command."
The Plan of Action represents the FAO framework for assisting Member Nations in implementing a global blueprint of actions to promote the advancement of women that was the major outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in September 1995.
Other Women's Day activities included a photo and graphic arts exhibit on women's participation in development, the presentation of a video on rural women and a seminar on such diverse topics as defining gender, women's nutritional education and extension programmes for women farmers.
13 March 1997
Other resources:
- Press release
- Gender: Key to Sustainability and Food Security
- FAO Focus: Women and Food Security
- Interview with Marie Randriamamonjy, Chief of Women in Development Service
